Friends of mine are getting married in February. They are not vegan but want to have a vegan wedding cake to accommodate their vegan guests. The bride's mother will be making the cake and has a bit of experience with vegan baking (but not a lot). She's willing to do some experimentation.

The bride's first choice is for a traditional "white" cake but she would also consider a carrot cake or something similar, though chocolate is definitely out. From my first round of exploration, it seems the traditional white cake can be a bit of a challenge to pull off with vegan ingredients. (I'm prepared to recommend the carrot cake if necessary . . . simply because I know it can be just as tasty with all-vegan ingredients and it would be great to have a "great-tasting cake!" not just a veganized approximation of a traditional cake that might not impress non-vegan guests.)

Hi there!My twin sister recently got married and wanted to accommodate for vegan guests (well, mainly me!) so instead of having a traditional cake, she had a cupcake tower, with some vegan cupcakes, and some regular cup cakes. It was a great idea because neither vegan nor omnivor had to "miss out". Also guests could also easily take their cupcake home if they chose to.I dont know much about baking, and couldn't give you a recipe, but I think it would be harder to screw up a cupcake recipe than an entire cake, and might be a safer option in any case!Good luck!

I have made vegan cupcakes that made people stop dead in their tracks and moan like they were having sex. Not an exaggeration! Ask Andy, Alex, Betty, and Mark. I got the basic recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and then I added good liquors as extra flavoring. I'm an awesome cook but these recipes are TO DIE FOR. They are waaaaay more moist then any regular cake I've ever had in my life. The paper cupcake liners just fall away from the delicate cake inside. The frostings are more powerful than a Tootsie Roll Pop with a chewy morphine center. The smell of them baking is so delicious, it's annoying, because there is NO WAY you can resist sampling those damned things. Sometimes twice.

My favorite creations were dark chocolate cake with raw coconut frosting and a raw almond tucked inside (Almond Joy Cupcakes), rum cherry cake with cherry buttercream frosting, cappucino cake with chocolate ganache filling with Jameson Irish Whisky and cappucino buttercream frosting (Irish Coffee Cupcake), chocolate cake with chocolate chai buttercream frosting (Chocolate Chai Cupcake), rosewater cake with rosewater buttercream frosting and pistachio crumbles, and rum raisin cake with Bacardi Dark Rum buttercream frosting. They are easier to make in cupcake form but any cake recipe can be translated from cupcakes to regular cake size and even into mini cupcakes. I have pictures of some of these. I'll see what I can do to get them up.

Baby Hercules wrote:I have made vegan cupcakes that made people stop dead in their tracks and moan like they were having sex.

That is either a bad ass cupcake or some really horrible sex.

I'm gonna have to try those.

Bad ass cupcake. Some of my friends are professional chefs and they were the ones who were moaning. One of them told me that if it had been anybody else telling them the cupcakes were vegan, they wouldn't have believed it for a second.

Word to the wise: only bake these for an event that you can take them to. Don't leave them around the house. (moan)

Byrne wrote:she ruined our wedding cake! And now we can't enjoy the top either for our one year anniversary! Should I have to pay her! She keeps emailing me and won't leave me alone!!

Well, she did a lot of work but altered the agreed upon plan. My gut instinct says that paying her half the amount would defuse the situation and get her off your back. It would cover her costs but educate her--and you--about contracts in the future. Everybody's got a story like this about learning the hard way. Luckily, nobody was physically hurt, you didn't lose any permanent property, and you both can move on easily from it without a second thought. Hopefully, the remainder of your wedding had wonderful, beautiful moments that you can focus on to the exclusion of this one sucky event. Hey, post some pics if you have them and share the joy! We wanna see you in your wedding duds!

Simi wrote:Hi there!My twin sister recently got married and wanted to accommodate for vegan guests (well, mainly me!) so instead of having a traditional cake, she had a cupcake tower, with some vegan cupcakes, and some regular cup cakes. It was a great idea because neither vegan nor omnivor had to "miss out". Also guests could also easily take their cupcake home if they chose to.I dont know much about baking, and couldn't give you a recipe, but I think it would be harder to screw up a cupcake recipe than an entire cake, and might be a safer option in any case!Good luck!

This is a really good idea. I am currently planning my San Francisco Wedding and I know there will be a few vegan guests, and I want to make sure they are accommodated. I think I will do a normal cake, and have additional vegan cupcakes for the vegans in the crowd. Great idea! Thanks for the advice. I went to a couple Weddings Las Vegas that did not have great choices for vegan guests, and it was a big bummer, so I will try to be as accomodating as possible.

Baby Hercules wrote:I have made vegan cupcakes that made people stop dead in their tracks and moan like they were having sex.

That is either a bad ass cupcake or some really horrible sex.

I'm gonna have to try those.

Where the attitude goes, the mind goes. Where the mind goes, the body goes. Where the body goes, others will follow.

Hahahaa, this is hilarious! But the question is still fresh for me, as I am gonna get married, and half of the guests from my husband's side are vegans. I couldn't imagine that'd be so hard to create two kinds of menu and two cakes! Grrrh....

It's not hard at all. As a matter of fact, a menu could be designed such that all the dishes complement one another as one large spread--especially if there is a flavor theme to tie it all together, such as Indian, Thai, Tex Mex, Italian, etc. That way, there wouldn't be "two menus," just a grand variety to choose from. Whether you are doing a buffet or a sit down with menus, the vegan dishes could be tastefully labeled somehow with an artistic little leaf next to them. As for the two cakes, since your husband's side is in large part Team Vegan, why not make the Groom's Cake vegan? You can go all kinds of crazy with a Groom's Cake with unique flavors, toppings, fillings, etc. and it would still be considered traditional. Plus, it would give the vegan-curious in the wedding party a chance to taste the possibilities!